Tenerife launches new volcanic walking trails

The new walking trails explore the volcanic parts of Tenerife. Photo: Tenerife Tourism CorporationA series of new volcano walking trails have been created on the island of Tenerife.

Divided into five major volcanic areas covering the whole island, the aim of each route is to offer an insight into island's natural heritage generated by volcanic activity.

The five volcanic areas are focused on Ancient Volcanoes, Large Landscapes, Historic Volcanoes, Explosive Volcanoes and the Abeque Ridge.

The island’s new volcanic routes have been launched as part of the Tenerife Tourism Corporation’s ongoing initiative, “Tenerife, Volcanoes of Life”, which aims to provide tourists with an 'authentic' holiday experience. The programme, run in partnership with the Council of Tenerife, scientists from the Canary Islands Institute of Volcanology (Involcan) and the Techonological Institute of Renewable Energy (ITER), focuses on measures for reducing volcanic risk and ways in which the volcanoes can enhance holiday experiences for visitors to Tenerife.

Carlos Alonso, Tenerife Tourism Corporation’s chief, said: “Our goal is to introduce more tourists to one of our major holiday attractions and really showcase Tenerife’s volcanic landscape. There are a range of ways to enjoy this unique attribute of our islands – visitors can scuba dive and see volcanic seascapes, hike along the trails and learn more about the lava flows, or fly in a hang glider and take in the views of volcanoes from above, where some of the most amazing geological formations in the Atlantic can be viewed.”

Tenerife is home to the world’s highest volcanic cone and over 100 craters and badlands, which are barren lava surfaces that have eroded over time.

For further insight into Tenerife’s volcanic origins, visitors can head underground to explore the huge volcanic tubes formed when lava flow cooled and hardened on the outside but continued to flow inside. The Cueva del Viento is one of the most impressive of its kind and its stretch of 17 miles makes it the longest subterranean volcanic cave in Europe and the fifth largest in the world.